


That Tiny Ass Flower Shop

by Spoony



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-19 19:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1480741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoony/pseuds/Spoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger is a college student who aspires to become a florist in his mother's flower shop. When he faces a customer with a menacing aura, he can't help but be fascinated. **abandoned</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Before we begin, I'd like to inform y'all that I'm by no means a florist, so just.. please keep that in mind while reading!
> 
> Also apologies for crappy first chapter orz

“Eren, those hydrangeas need watering”  
  
“I’ll see to it, mom!” Eren got the watering can from the cupboard in the back room, filled it and set out to tend to the flowers. It was strangely soothing watching them grow day by day, waiting for someone to come in and buy them. He’d been helping out in his mother’s flower shop since he was little, so he felt perfectly at home in the mash up of different scents that other people might find suffocating.  
  
“I thought you had school today”, his mother’s voice sounded out of the backroom. Eren sighed for the thousandth time that morning.  
  
“No, mom, we entered spring break yesterday, remember?”  
  
“Oh, I forgot”, she said happily as she entered the shop area closing the backroom door behind her. Eren turned away and rolled his eyes. They’d had this conversation three times in the span of only four hours and he was getting tired of it. Not that he actually blamed his mom for being forgetful, she had other things on her mind.  
  
“Hannes is taking me to looking for dresses, could you watch the shop for the time being?” Eren chuckled because she clearly had no intention of staying in the shop. She was already heading out the door in her plain clothes and high heels, looking for the car keys in her purse.  
  
“I’ll take care of everything, you two have fun, okay?”  
  
His mother blew him a kiss through the already closing door and disappeared from sight. Eren finished with his task and took his place behind the counter. Days when he watched the shop alone had become more frequent as the wedding approached. Usually either his mother Carla or her fiancé Hannes was there as the “supreme overlord”, but since they got engaged and had a whole wedding to plan, Eren was more than happy to cover for them. He wished nothing more than for his mom to be happy, especially after the way things had ended with his dad. Besides, it wasn’t like the shop was a busy one anyway.  
  
The bell on the door chimed happily and Eren’s attention snapped out of his reverie instantly. He put his working smile on and welcomed the customer to the shop. This wasn’t one of the regulars. In fact, Eren didn’t remember even seeing the guy in town before.  
  
“Hello”, he greeted the customer happily. “Is there anything I can help you with?” What he received was a cold glance in his direction before the customer returned his attention to the flowers.  
  
“No, I’ll tell you if I need anything.” The guy’s voice was a monotone one, it sounded like he was bored with life. Eren muttered an “okay then” under his breath and settled to stealing glances at the stranger once in a while. He noted that the guy was unusually short; maybe even a head shorter than Eren. And it wasn’t like Eren was that tall either, 5’7” was pretty average for a guy.  
  
The stranger was well dressed. He wore straight black pants, a white collared shirt and a suit jacket. The jacket was tight fit and complimented the guy’s muscles (unnecessarily so, Eren thought as he hastened to tear his gaze off of the guy’s biceps before he was caught staring).  
  
Eren had never considered undercuts as that attractive, but this guy pulled it off pretty well. He had stark black hair that was parted a bit to the right. Eren caught himself wondering how it would feel to the touch and quickly averted his gaze, looking for a distraction of any sort. Fortunately for him, the bell chimed again right at that moment and he looked up gratefully.  
  
”Hey there, Jaeger!”  
  
Jean Kirschstein barged in, loud and uninvited (and definitely not buying flowers), as always.  
  
“Seen any nice pieces of ass lately?” he asked as he worked his way to the counter, careful not to break anything. He’d once knocked over an expensive flower pot, and definitely did not want to have to face an angry Carla Jaeger again. Eren smirked at Jean, remembering how good it had felt to watch his mom yell at someone other than him for a change.  
  
“No, but a horse just walked in”, he answered playfully, making a point not to glance at the shorty who was now browsing through the carnations.  
“Besides, even if I had, I most certainly wouldn’t tell you.”  
  
Jean, who had finally reached his destination- miraculously, leaving the shop behind him in one piece - made a face.  
“Come on, Eren! We’re in the same gay boat anyway, what’s wrong with helping a bro out?”  
  
Eren noted that the shorty’s hand stopped for a while at the word “gay”. He hoped he didn’t have to deal with another homophobic customer, those were the worst.  
  
“Sorry, Jean, but this gay boat sailed without you the moment you started courting my best friend. How’re things with him anyway?”  
  
“No change… I mean, I managed to get him to agree to going to a movie with me on Friday, but that’s about it. Wait, was that last sentence even real?”  
  
“Um, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, but I got your point. A movie date sounds like a nice development. You shouldn’t worry too much, it’s not like you’re dealing with a homophobe or something.”  
  
“Well yeah, but ‘not a homophobe’ doesn’t automatically translate as ‘available for conversion’, genius.”  
  
Just as Eren was about to launch a witty remark back, a cool and unamused voice interrupted them.  
“Do you mind reducing the drama long enough to tend to a customer?”  
  
Both boys looked over to see the shorty had come up to the counter holding a yellow carnation. Eren was rather surprised by how silently the man had managed to creep upon them. He hurried over to the register, leaving Jean to his own devices.  
  
“Sorry to make you wait!” Eren smiled brightly at the man, who didn’t return the gesture. “What’s the occasion?”  
  
“What’s it to you?” The customer asked raising an eyebrow. Eren didn’t know if the man was trying to make him flustered or was just otherwise unfriendly, but he kept his work smile on as he replied:  
“Oh, I’m just curious, that’s all. I haven’t seen you around before.” He noted that the customer remained as expressionless as ever and was already about to continue when the man sighed in a resigned manner.  
  
“A friend of mine got engaged, so there’s a party. Happy now?” Eren wasn’t sure if he was happy, but the man had definitely surprised him with such an honest answer. Then he properly noticed the flower the man was holding.  
  
“Um, sir… If that’s the case maybe you should reconsider the flower”, Eren said warily, not wanting to come across as unfriendly or mocking. It was just that for him, taking that particular flower to someone who’d just gotten engaged seemed like a really, really bad idea. The stranger’s eyes flashed at that and Eren fought the urge to gulp.  
  
“Oi brat, I don’t tell you how to live your life. I’m not gonna buy a fucking rose just cause that’s customary”, the customer said with a threatening undertone. Ok, Eren definitely didn’t like this guy. Nobody had said shit about roses and this guy who knew nothing about Eren was now accusing him of giving life lessons or whatever. One of Eren’s flaws happened to be short temper, and he was definitely not going to take shit from a guy who was a head shorter than he was.  
  
“Actually, sir, I was referring to what the flower _means_ ”, he said coolly. Jean groaned in the sidelines and Eren shot him a shut-your-trap- look. Now it was the customer’s turn to look surprised, though he managed to arrange his face back into the uninterested one in the blink of an eye.  
  
“What the hell are you talking about, brat?”  
  
“The language of flowers.”  
  
“The what-now?”  
  
“Come on Eren, just let the poor guy buy his flower already”, Jean butted in only to receive dirty looks from both the customer, who apparently didn’t appreciate being called “the poor guy”, and Eren who, after telling Jean to shut up because this was important, turned back to the customer with an apologetic expression.  
  
“Well, you see, the yellow carnation holds the meaning of disappointment and rejection”, he explained quietly. He wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea, but as a florist he felt obliged to let the guy know what he was getting. Besides, it wasn’t so much for this guy, but just in case the friend or the fiancé happened to know about the language of flowers. He was just about to get ready to be punched, when the customer’s expression changed. First it was that of surprise, and then it softened to an almost friendly one. Eren was surprised to find that with a softer expression the guy looked likeable – handsome even.  
  
“Oh. I had no idea. Thanks, kid”, the customer said, this time with a much friendlier tone. “What do you suggest, then?”  
  
Eren sighed in relief and worked his way around the counter.  
  
“If you still want to stick with a carnation, I’d suggest pink, it means ‘I will never forget you’ or ‘I will always be there for you’”, he said, picking out the prettiest of their pink carnations. “Other than that, there’s the white chrysanthemum.” He waded his way to the chrysanthemum stand and handed out a particularly large white one for the customer to inspect. “ In general, chrysanthemum means ‘you’re a wonderful friend’, and white chrysanthemums stand for ‘the truth’.” The guy turned the chrysanthemum around in his hand as he listened to Eren’s explanation. Eren had a feeling the guy was pleased.  
  
“I’ll take the white chrysanthemum, then. It looks a lot better than the carnation anyway”, the guy said and put the carnation back with a tenderness that surprised Eren. It was evident that the guy was careful not to harm the flower. When he turned back to go to the counter, Eren realized he’d been staring and quickly turned around to go back behind the register.  
  
They got the transaction done no problem and Eren even wrapped a shining ribbon around the stem of the chrysanthemum. When the customer turned to leave, Eren wished him good day and was pleased to receive a reply, though it was only a “hmph”. He watched the man leave, waiting until he was completely out of sight and slumped against the counter.  
  
“Holy hell. I really thought he was gonna hit me”, Eren exclaimed, resting his forehead on the cool counter. Jean whistled softly.  
“What the hell’s that guy’s problem?”  
  
“No freaking idea! Nobody even _mentioned_ roses, for chrissake!” Eren knew he shouldn’t get fixated on that, but he couldn’t help it. Eren Jaeger was and remained a flower dork even when confronted with potentially dangerous customers.  
  
“You’re still worried about that? How about the murderous way he looked at you!”  
  
“His eyes were pretty though”, Eren mused and flashed a dorkish grin at Jean.  
  
“Not to mention those _muscles_ ”, Jean grinned back, his gaze becoming unfocused. Eren guessed he was fantasizing about something again and decided to just let it be. Jean was right, though. The sight of the guy’s muscles had made Eren wonder what it would feel like to be hugged tight by those arms. Not that Eren would probably ever see the guy again. Now that he thought about it, the guy had paid in cash so Eren hadn’t even had a chance to learn his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean and Armin progress a bit and Eren is surprised by multiple things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters right at the start to give you a better taste of what you're getting yourself into *evil laugh*
> 
> Apologies for any mistakes, Word tried to fish them out for me, but I don't trust that thing's grammar and it's 1AM o-o

”For chrissake Jean, keep your hands to yourself!” Armin laughed for the tenth time that day as he tried to slap his almost-boyfriend’s hand off his waist. Jean was quicker though, and pulled his hand out of the way which resulted in Armin groaning at the impact of his own slap on his stomach. Eren rolled his eyes at the two. Happy though he was for both of them, he wished they’d take their lovey dovey somewhere else.  
  
“Come on you two, this isn’t a coffee shop”, he said resignedly while knowing perfectly well that his halfhearted complaints sounded to deaf ears. Armin just chuckled and Jean shrugged in a _what ‘cha gonna do_ kind of way.  
  
Well, there definitely wasn’t anything Eren would’ve been able to do about it. His and Mikasa’s friends had made it a habit to stop by the flower shop just to hang out and chat with no regard of business hours. Carla and Hannes had already grown used to it and were very accommodating. Thankfully the shop was a tiny one and most of the customers were regulars who had grown to know most of the visitors, so the atmosphere was a light and playful one for most of the time. They’d even earned praise for that in one of the community’s monthly magazines.  
  
Armin and Jean continued their play-flirting and Eren couldn’t help but feel happy for them. Their movie date had been a great success and Armin was gradually warming up to Jean’s advances. Jean and Eren had had their differences in the past and it had taken the two almost a year to set their rivalry aside and become friends, but Eren had been supporting Jean in the Armin matter since day one in hopes that finding a new love interest helped ease the pain from the break up Jean had gone through. Besides, he’d had a feeling that Armin might not have been so strictly in the straight team as he’d lead everyone to believe, and now that suspicion was starting to seem correct.  
  
The bell chimed and a perky-looking strawberry blonde walked in laughing. She greeted them with a bright “Hello” and started checking out the shop excitedly. Only when she turned to address someone behind her did Eren realize another person was entering the shop. He turned to the door, ready to greet the customer when… Both Eren and Jean tensed for a moment which resulted in Armin giving them both a quizzical look.  
It’d been about a week since the last time the man came to the shop. This time he was wearing plain clothes – a black T-shirt and unripped jeans – but otherwise he remained the same, with the undercut and the menacing look. Eren hastily arranged his face back to the work smile and greeted the man. He wasn’t too surprised when the only reply he got was a curt nod. The man seemed rather… uncomfortable, for some reason. Like he’d made a decision he now regretted. The woman turned to him and sighed.  
  
“Oh come on Levi, can you get any more antisocial?” she asked in a chiding voice. Eren thought it was rather brave of her when taking in the facts that she must’ve been a few years younger than the man… Levi?... and that the statement obviously directed Levi’s menacing glare to her. She didn’t seem flustered at all though, on the contrary. She raised an eyebrow, obviously stating that Levi had just proven her point. Levi just rolled his eyes.  
  
“Can you just get this over with, Petra?” Eren noticed a slight pleading undertone in the usually bored voice. The woman, Petra, paid no attention to Levi anymore as her attention had been drawn to Jean and Armin – or rather to Jean’s arm now securely wrapped around Armin’s waist. Her eyes lit up as she rushed excitedly to the counter.  
  
“Ooh, are you two a couple? Oh my gosh, that’s so cute! “ She blabbered. Jean and Armin discreetly exchanged a confused look and Eren stifled a giggle. He almost wished this woman would become a regular.  
  
“You know, I’ve been rooting for gay rights ever since Levi came out of the closet”, Petra continued her excited speech, but Eren’s attention had wavered as he raised his eyebrows at the man who was now deliberately avoiding his gaze. Well, that would explain why he’d reacted to the word “gay” during his first visit to the shop.  
  
“Petra, we don’t have all day!” There was now a commanding edge to Levi’s voice that made Eren wonder if the woman was maybe his underling or something. Which, in turn, lead to him wondering what Levi did for a living.  
  
Petra smiled apologetically and proceeded to ask Eren to recommend a pot plant that wouldn’t take much effort to maintain, and after Eren had presented her with a cactus she liked and she’d paid for it, the two left the shop. Eren could see Petra tease Levi about something, but he didn’t catch what she said.  
  
He didn’t know what surprised him the most: the fact that Levi had reappeared at the shop, the fact that he now knew Levi’s name, the fact that somebody wouldn’t be flustered by Levi’s menacing aura, or the fact that Levi was gay. He decided to be equally surprised by everything, though the fact he found himself mulling over was that Levi was gay. He hadn’t even dared entertain that possibility. He honestly didn’t even know why he cared so much. Maybe because he’d found himself thinking of those muscular arms around his body a bit too much over the days after his first encounter with Levi. But just the thought of those muscles pressing him tightly to the man’s chest, which had to be equally well refined and strong…  
  
“Um, Earth to Eren?” Armin’s voice brought Eren back from his reverie and he found both his best friend and Jean looking at him with a knowing look on their faces. Eren blushed in spite of himself.  
  
“What?” His voice came out a little too hostile and he grimaced apologetically at the two.  
  
“Are you all right? You were spaced out”, Armin said and Eren knew that the question was just a courtesy – his friend was smart and had probably already figured out even more than Eren had. Jean whistled softly.  
  
“Never knew _that_ was your type, Jaeger.”  
  
“Wha- tha… That’s cause that _isn’t_ my type, horseface”, Eren said defensively. It wasn’t an outright lie either. That wasn’t his type. Not quite, at least. He didn’t usually go for short people, but then again those arms…  
  
“Yeah, right. So even you can get the hots for someone who doesn’t suit your usual tastes”, Jean teased. He never let an opportunity pass. Eren made a face at him.  
  
“Who’s Eren got the hots for?” a female voice interrupted them. Eren looked up in surprise. He hadn’t even heard Mikasa, his adopted sister, enter the shop. She wove her way behind the counter and grabbed one of the stools reserved for employees and took a seat next to Eren.  
  
“Is it someone completely out of his league like the last two?” Mikasa addressed her question to Armin. She was always interested in her brother’s affairs and had been supportive of Eren ever since he came out of the closet, though Eren was pretty sure both she and Armin had known long before he’d been ready to reveal it. Heck, Armin for one might’ve known even before Eren himself knew.  
  
“There was this short guy here a while ago, who seems to have captured our Eren’s heart”, Armin told Mikasa. Eren couldn’t believe the little bastard could say something like that with a straight face. Even better, Jean had to butt in.  
“Yeah, the only problem is, the guy walks around with a murderous aura and is at least forty years old.”  
  
“He’s not forty”, Eren rose to his defense, “Thirty-something at most.” Mikasa raised an eyebrow. Apparently in her mind Levi was just as far out of Eren’s league as the last two had been. Eren groaned.  
  
“I don’t even have the hots for him, I just think he has nice arms, okay?”  
  
“You should have seen him just now”, Armin turned to Mikasa after throwing a pity-filled glance at Eren. “After that guy left, Eren entered his dream world and was totally oblivious to the world around him.”  
  
“And had a damn cheesy look on his face, too”, Jean added – for good measure, obviously. He flashed a bright smirk at Eren who in turn threw a particularly large piece of soil at him, only judging the trajectory wrong and hitting Armin square in the face instead.  
  
“Ewww! Eren, your aim sucks!” Armin exclaimed as he dusted off his face trying his best not to get too much dirt on his shirt. Mikasa burst out laughing and Jean helped Armin clean his face. A tender moment passed between them as Jean’s hand brushed Armin’s cheek gently, making the latter blush, but it was quickly interrupted by Eren clearing his throat.  
  
“Get a room already! You know I’m happy to see you both happy and all that, but seriously!” Armin blushed even more and Jean hugged him tightly.  
“In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve already got a room. Not our fault you’re still in it”, Jean sneered. Eren picked up another soil missile off the table but Mikasa took his wrist in her hand saying:  
  
“Relax Eren, Armin just got his face cleaned up.”  
  
Eren looked at her incredulously, but burst out laughing along with the others. He couldn’t have asked for better friends. Eren had a hot temper and not many could deal with it. He considered it almost a miracle that he’d found a group of people whose personalities matched his so completely. The only thing about them was that they were nosy and it never took long for gossip to run a full circle. He suspected that by the end of the day the whole crew would know that he’d found a love interest. Though, he convinced himself firmly, Levi wasn’t a love interest. Just a guy with a nice body.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two guys trapped by weather start bonding slowly but surely, and the whole gang celebrates Eren's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the people who read this are all mature, intelligent adults, but I still feel obliged to remind you that I'm by no means a florist - please don't use this chapter as a how-to-treat-your-plant- guide, I nicked some instructions off of the interwebs and worked from there orz

The third time Levi appeared at the shop, Eren was alone. It was a rainy Saturday morning and the man was struggling to get inside because of his umbrella, and something he carried under his arm. Eren hurried to open the door for him and got a grunt he interpreted as a thank you when Levi finally got out of the rain. 

“Good morning”, Eren said, closing the door behind him. 

“Morning”, Levi replied (surprisingly enough, Eren thought). “And I guess it’s also ‘Happy birthday’?”

“Th-thanks,” replied Eren confusedly, “but how did you know?” Levi turned to look at him quizzically.

“You did walk through the door, right?”

_Oh no._  
Eren rushed to reopen the door he’d just closed and saw that a poster had been pinned to the glass. It looked hand-drawn; there was a party hat and a cake on it, and on the cake it said ‘Happy birthday, Eren!’ accompanied by the signatures of his mother, Hannes and Mikasa. He hurried to take it down – careful not to rip it – and brought it inside.

“God, how did I miss that?” he laughed. “I must’ve been really out of it this morning. Thanks for pointing it out!”

“Don’t mention it.” Levi’s voice was just as monotone as usual, though he did appear to be trying to smile. He had already reached the counter and Eren hurried to his appropriate place.

“So, what brings you here today in that lousy weather?” he asked, partly because it was his job but mostly because he was genuinely curious. The weather was horrible, the sky showed no signs of clearing and the wind had picked up so the raindrops were flying vertically through the air. It wasn’t even that late yet, only 10:25 A.M.

“This thing. I have no idea why it’s looking this droopy, I thought I’ve watered it properly and all”, Levi said and Eren recognized the thing under his arm as a pot plant. It had a few small purple flowers and rather large leaves that did in fact look droopy.

“A saintpaulia? Those tend to be difficult to maintain”, Eren mused as he took a closer look at the plant. “They require high humidity, for one. Have you been watering it below?”

“Yeah, they told me to do that when I bought it.”

“Have you fertilized it once every two weeks or so?”

“I… oh”, realization dawned on Levi’s face. “I ran out of the fertilizer a month or so ago and never got around to restocking.”

“That problem’s easily solved.” Relief was plain in Eren’s voice; he wasn’t exactly a plant doctor after all. He bent down to grab the appropriate fertilizer from under the counter and handed it to Levi.

“I never knew this place dealt from under the counter too.” Levi raised his eyebrows. Eren smirked. Now this was the kind of humor he could deal with.

“Why yes, sir”, he took a theatrical bow. “We are the only place on this side of town that deals in this stuff.”

“Good thing I turned to you, then”, Levi snorted. Yeah, Eren could definitely appreciate the guy’s humor. He was also very pleased to be having an actual conversation with Levi without feeling awkward, even if it was just the two of them goofing off. 

Levi paid for the fertilizer and prepared to brave through the storm once more. Eren was almost sad to see him go. He wanted to talk to him more, get to know him better. As if right on cue, at that very moment lightning flashed bright, leaving the two momentarily blinded by light. A deep rumble made the windows of the shop rattle. Levi stopped dead on his tracks and Eren thought he saw the man glance at his umbrella.

“Are you sure you want to go out into _that_?” Eren asked tentatively. 

“It’s not like I’ve got much of a choice”, Levi smiled bitterly. 

“You could always stay here and wait for the worst of the storm to pass”, Eren prompted. “It’s bound to be a quiet day, and besides, people hang out here all the time.”

Levi just looked at Eren without saying a word. A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Finally Eren couldn’t take it anymore and broke out in nervous blabber.

“That’s of course if you’re not busy, I mean, it’s a Saturday so obviously a flower shop is the last place you’d probably want to spend your time at and you’re probably a busy adult, so…”

Levi’s chuckle interrupted Eren, who realized he’d been waving his hands frantically while speaking. He fell into a flustered silence, blushing and lowering his gaze. Way to look like a total dork, he scolded himself. Now Levi was laughing at him.

“As it happens, I’m not busy. And I sure as hell don’t feel like going out into a thunderstorm right now.”

Eren looked up, surprised.   
“R-really?”  
Crap, he hadn’t meant to sound so hopeful. Maybe the latest thunderclap had camouflaged the sound?

“Really.”

_Guess not._

“H-hold on, I'll get you a chair!” Eren shuffled around and retrieved one of the employers' chairs for Levi. The two sat down around the counter and made themselves as comfortable as they could.

Levi frowned, as if something had occurred to him.  
“How old are you anyway?”

“21.”

✿✿✿

Eren was on cloud nine. He'd spent a fun morning with Levi while they'd waited for the storm to pass. The awkwardness from before had been forgotten and they'd indulged themselves in small-talk that centered mostly on Eren's life.

Levi had been curious as to why a college student would've spent most of his time working in a small flower shop, and Eren had explained that the shop belonged to his mother and that he himself was aspiring to become a florist. He'd also mentioned that his parents were divorced and that he and his sister had moved out after their mother got engaged to Hannes. Levi had also asked about Jean and Armin who he remembered from his previous visit, and Eren had launched into a story of how he and Jean first met. The idea of two high school boys' rivalry had seemed to amuse the older man.

By the evening the storm had quieted down and Eren and Mikasa were headed to their favorite bar to celebrate Eren's birthday. Carla would have let the kids celebrate at the house, but Eren had refused. He'd been to a house party once, and things had... gotten out of hand, to say the least. Even though he knew his and Mikasa's friends weren't the type to wreck things while drunk, he still felt safer celebrating at a public joint nonetheless. 

By the time they arrived, the crew was already there. Jean and Armin stood outside, hand in hand; Ymir and Historia (dating for two months now) were sitting at one table, Sasha and Connie at a second, and Reiner, Bertholdt and Mikasa's room-mate Annie at a third. Once everyone was settled and got their drinks, the usual chatter erupted. 

Of course, Eren’s birthday was a pretense under which everybody could take time off of their respective lives with a clear conscience and go drinking and just hang out together like they used to in high school. Mikasa and Annie, who were on the college volleyball team, were telling everybody about an upcoming match, Ymir was praising Historia who in turn tried to direct the conversation to her girlfriend’s life (Ymir had landed a job as a dance instructor, to everyone’s amazement). Sasha and Connie were talking about some awesome April Fools prank they were preparing for their workplace. Eren was enjoying the conversation without feeling the need to contribute until Armin took it upon him to share Eren’s life with the rest of them as well.

“Oh yeah, did Jean ever tell you guys about Eren’s new crush?”

Eren almost choked on his beer. Everybody turned to look at him, curiosity in their eyes. Jean had not, in fact, shared the information yet. 

“Oh snap, I’d totally forgotten!” Jean exclaimed. “There was this guy who came by the shop a few weeks back and our Eren just went and fell head over heels without even talking to him.”

“I did not!” Eren protested. “I just thought he had nice, muscular arms, that’s all!”

“Yeah, right”, Armin laughed. “You were so out of it after he left that you paid the two of us no attention whatsoever.”

“What kind of a guy is he?” Christa piped in.

“Somebody way out of Eren’s league”, Mikasa joined the conversation hurriedly before Eren could protest again. 

“Not you too, Mikasa!”

“Well seeing as how ‘out of Eren’s league’ is a pretty vast area, I think we could use some elaboration”, Reiner laughed. Eren groaned and smacked his head on the table. A round of muffled giggles surrounded the three tables.

“He’s pretty short”, Armin started, “has an undercut and like Eren said, nice and muscular arms.” Even Armin’s eyes turned a bit dreamy at the recollection.

Jean let out a whine in protest.

“Just stating a fact”, Armin reassured him. Then he turned his attention back to everyone. “Oh, and he’s like, forty or so.”

“Thirty-two”, Eren corrected. Everyone turned their attention to him now, like the spectators of a tennis match.

“How do you know?” Armin asked in surprise.

“Eren, stalking people is illegal”, Mikasa said with a worried look on her face.

“I didn’t _stalk_ anyone!” Eren protested. “I asked him!”

Everybody was looking at Eren in silence, waiting for more information. With a disgruntled sigh Eren told them about his morning with Levi. He thought he’d done a pretty good job at making the story interesting but for some reason everyone seemed unsatisfied. Eren couldn’t figure out what was wrong until Jean voiced his thoughts.

“So… You were alone in a confined space with your crush and all you did was small-talk?”

“What?” Eren asked, perplexed. “That was the third time I even met him, and the first time the meeting wasn’t awkward as hell! The hell was I supposed to have done? And for the record, I had fun, and I think he did too.” 

“First time he didn’t deny the part where he had a crush on the guy”, Armin whispered (audibly enough to be heard from across the room, probably) to Mikasa, who stifled a laugh. Eren groaned and lay back on his chair.

“All right, fine! I’ve a bit of a crush on him. Are you happy now?” He groaned again as everybody, even Ymir, nodded happily. He couldn’t shake the feeling that even the barista of the evening, a woman with brown hair on a ponytail and glasses, looked oddly satisfied as well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren and Levi accidentally end up on a almost date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, it's not dead. These are getting progressively longer too. Hopefully that's a good thing. Sorry for any mistakes, didn't have a beta for this one.

**Mikasa:** _Srry can’t come. Practice_  
“What the hell, Mikasa?” Eren grumbled after reading the brief text he’d received from his sister after waiting for her for 15 whole minutes. They’d agreed to go on a movie date with Armin, but now both of them had blown Eren off - Armin had cancelled because of some plans with Jean and Mikasa had landed herself in extra volley ball practice. Eren couldn’t exactly blame either of them, but he would’ve appreciated a little earlier notice. 

Disgruntled, he entered the movie theater and bought a ticket just for himself. The movie was about to start so he hurriedly got himself the smallest drink and popcorn combo, dubbed by the locals as the “forever alone- combo”, and made his way into the cinema. The commercials were already rolling in the almost empty theater as Eren hurried to find his seat.

“Row five, seat nine… row five, seat nine…” he muttered as he counted the rows and tried not to trip on the stairs. He got to row five and headed for his seat. There was only one other person in the row and it looked like Eren would be sitting next to him. Eren didn’t pay him any attention other than noting how short the man was, because he couldn’t see that well in the dimly lit theater. As he got closer, though, he noticed that the man had an undercut. Upon further analyze, he looked very familiar indeed.

_Oh._

Eren stopped dead on his tracks a few seats away. He was busy contemplating whether to go the distance or just sit there when a familiar voice called out to him.

“Just sit the fuck down already, the movie's about to start.”

Eren jumped at that, and in his short moment of panic fumbled his way to the seat assigned in his ticket. It was only after he'd sat down that he realized there had been a hint of amusement in the other man's voice. The panic had receded just as quickly as it had come, and Eren couldn't help but blush furiously in embarrassment. All those empty seats and he'd gone and sat right next to Levi. What was he, a lousy ass stalker? 

He sneaked a glance to his left and noted that Levi was staring uninterestedly at the screen where the opening credits were now rolling with properly ominous background music. He didn’t look like someone who would watch horror flicks, Eren thought as he took in the other man’s appearance. Today Levi’s clothes looked mismatched, liked he’d just picked whatever his eyes first landed on. He had a light blue polo shirt (at least that’s what it looked like in the dim lighting) and straight black pants that would have looked more appropriate with a dressing shirt and a tie. Not that Eren could complain, the polo shirt definitely complimented the shape of Levi’s biceps and… oh God, was that a proper six pack? Well then, new material for his fantasies. 

As if feeling Eren's gaze, the other turned his head and their eyes met. Eren quickly averted his eyes, but didn’t miss the twitch of Levi’s eyebrow.

“This is the seat on my ticket”, Eren blurted out without thinking. He immediately regretted it. It was stupid, and it sounded childish even to his ears. He heard Levi chuckle.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it”, Eren muttered almost inaudibly. Could he get any more childish than that?

Luckily enough, the opening credits came to an end and Eren got distracted by the movie. He wasn’t even sure what it was going to be about, Mikasa had insisted on picking what they would watch because apparently Eren and Armin’s taste wasn’t good enough for her. Eren was definitely going to let her hear about it for the rest of her life if the movie turned out to be complete shit. 

Turned out the movie wasn’t even horror by Eren’s standards. Sure there was a lot of blood and gore involved, but it seemed more like an action film than anything else. A bunch of people were battling man eating giants and trying to keep the remainder of humanity alive, that kind of stuff. At least the effects were decent. Eren figured they must’ve used motion capture for the giants, since their movements flowed nicely. Levi didn’t seem too impressed though.

“That’s total bullshit”, Eren heard him mutter. “A thing that big couldn’t possibly keep its balance like that.”

“It’s a movie. Physics don’t apply”, Eren whispered back. Levi let out a discontent hmph. Eren sighed.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing.” Eren deliberately leaned on his palm to hide his smile. Levi grumbled something under his breath and reached over to steal a handful of Eren’s popcorn.

Despite his initial complaints Levi seemed to be the type who got immersed in good stories and by the end of the movie he was cheering for the protagonists even more passionately than Eren. By the time they left the theatre, both of them were talking heatedly about the ending, Eren trying desperately to find ways his favorite character might have survived and Levi crushing his hopes by pointing out flaws in his theories and trying in vain to explain to Eren why that particular character had to die plotwise.

“Anyway”, Levi said after disproving the most ridiculous theory Eren had come up with so far (“What if that character had the power to transform into one of those giants and break out of that one giant’s stomach that way and regenerate his left arm and leg while he was at it?”), “the rules of that world are complete bullshit, it’s not going to do us any good to brood over shit like that. Though, the idea that people had the power to turn into those things is absolutely ridiculous even by that place’s standards.”

“I thought the setting was pretty realistic though”, Eren muttered into his hoodie. Levi raised an eyebrow at him incredulously.

“Giant naked people without penises are running around eating regular sized people and you call that a ‘realistic setting’?” 

“I wasn’t talking about _that_ part!” Eren protested. “More like, the conditions the people lived in. The poverty, entering the military just so your family could eat while the aristocrats had all these delicacies… Even when faced with such a powerful common enemy humans are overcome by their greed and the people with more status start to oppress others. It really portrays how rotten to the core humanity actually is.” 

Levi was lost in thought for a while, making Eren feel slightly uncomfortable. Levi’s face didn’t betray any of his feelings whatsoever so Eren had no way of knowing what he was thinking. He was about change the subject when Levi finally spoke.

“Let’s go eat something. My treat, since I ended up eating half of your popcorn.”

Eren was surprised by the sudden change of subject/what seemed like a date invitation, but hastily accepted. By now he was feeling grateful for Mikasa and Armin to have ditched him, since he got to spend time with Levi instead. Heck, judging by the invitation, Levi actually wanted to spend time with Eren too, and that in itself was more than Eren would ever have dared to hope for.

They spent a few minutes bickering about where to eat. Levi refused point blank to eat any fast food, while Eren on the other hand didn’t want to go to a fancy place mostly because the atmosphere didn’t really appeal to him, and because Levi had offered to pay so he didn’t want anything too expensive. Finally they decided to go to an Italian place that had the reputation for cooking fast, and that Levi knew for a fact provided customers with utensils. 

The waitress who guided them to a table seemed amused to have two men come to the restaurant at that hour (it was approximately 3 P.M.) and Eren was also very conscious of how much it looked like a date. He would glance nervously at Levi from time to time, but the man was as emotionless as ever, so there was no way of telling if he’d noticed or not. 

They took their seats and spent a while assessing the menu. Eren had never been to the place before, but his friends had told him the pizza Bolognese they served was the best in town. Levi on the other hand decided on a pasta carbonara. Apparently pizza even at a place like this qualified as “fast food” in his mind. Eren couldn’t help but find Levi’s resolve cute, though he’d never admit it to the man. Levi seemed to have issues with his (lack of) height and Eren figured that anyone who tried to associate the word ‘cute’ with him would find themselves in the ditch with some pieces missing.

The restaurant lived up to its reputation, and their food arrived before they’d even managed to re-establish a decent conversation. Eren was glad both dishes were delivered at the same time; he’d have felt awkward if he’d have had to start eating before Levi.

The pizza smelled heavenly and Eren was about to tuck in when he noticed something peculiar. Levi was almost absentmindedly scrubbing his utensils with the napkin. Eren must have looked confused because when Levi looked up, he sighed and explained.

“You never know where the last user’s hands have been to. It’s simply a precaution.”

Eren simply nodded. He didn’t feel like pointing out that the utensils had probably been to the dishwasher after the previous customer had used them. Every person had his quirks and Levi’s wasn’t even that strange by the standards of what Eren had ran into while on the internet. 

Levi proceeded by tucking his napkin down his shirt collar making it look like a French cravate. Suddenly the polo shirt looked much more appropriate with the black pants and Eren tried to stifle a giggle. Needless to say he failed and Levi flashed him a death glare. Eren held up his hands apologetically making Levi sigh.

“Eat your food you damned brat.”

“Yes sir!”

Levi flashed him another death glare, but Eren noticed the slight upward twitch his lips made (mainly because Eren was subconsciously staring at said lips at that precise moment). They tucked in with good appetite despite having eaten popcorn at the theatre. Eren couldn’t help but admire how gracefully Levi ate. Not even a single drop of sauce fell on his napkin or face. On the other hand, the man’s way of holding his glass struck Eren as odd. He’d never seen a person grab the top of the glass like that. He made a mental note to try it when he got home.

While eating they continued their discussion of the movie, but after a while the conversation drifted to much more personal matters. Levi asked how things were going at the shop. Eren didn’t linger on that subject for too long since nothing interesting had happened recently. He asked how Levi’s work was, realizing upon questioning that he didn’t even know what Levi did for a living. His face must have betrayed his anticipation because Levi just smiled cryptically and said that work had its ups and downs. Eren continued to pester him about his private life, but didn’t get much information other than that Levi lived alone and had only a few friends.

They parted after eating and Eren headed home feeling slightly light headed with happiness. He’d never thought there’d be a day when he’d get to go on a date with Levi. Not that today had been exactly a date, but it was close enough. He’d also learned so much more about Levi than it would have been possible had they just remained a florist and a customer. Not that they were anything more than that now, but they were getting closer to becoming friends, Eren thought. 

It was only after he got home that he realized he had three missed calls from Mikasa. He’d put his phone on silent before the movie started and forgotten all about it while having fun with Levi. He quickly phoned her back to check in; otherwise he might wake up at two o’clock with a very angry and worried sister banging on his door. Turned out Mikasa had only wanted to apologize for blowing him off like that and to check if he’d wanted to have dinner with her instead. Eren explained he’d already eaten, but said he’d be up for a round of Tekken. He packed up to spend the night at Mikasa’s, who was in possession of their PlayStation after winning in rock-paper-scissors.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren sulks and gets drunk with Jean.

Eren was in a foul mood. If there had been any indication that the professor was planning a pop quiz, he just might have had enough time to do last minute studying and pass the stupid thing. If his mother got wind of him being in danger of failing a class, she'd cut his working hours for sure.  
 _What's so bad about flunking one course, anyway? I never wanted to go to college in the first place_ , Eren thought wryly.

Luckily for him, the day had been a slow one because of the cold drizzle that had been going on since noon, so he'd had plenty of time to sulk in peace. His mom and Hannes had been tasting cakes all day long because the wedding was only two months away, so they hadn't been in either, to Eren's relief. If he managed to get home without running into them or Mikasa, he'd be in the clear for the day.

He glanced at the clock, it was almost half past five. It didn't seem like anyone was coming in with the weather and all, so he closed shop early and headed home. It was late April, (only a few weeks until his finals) but the cold of the drizzle managed to sneak through Eren's coat right to his very bones, and he was very much in need of a hot shower by the time he reached his apartment.

The comfort of the hot water gave him plenty of time to contemplate on his life choices. He really should have started studying ages ago, it was obvious the teachers would start with the quizzes since it was getting close to the finals. He really hadn't given any thought to those since most of his days had been spent at the shop, with his friends and... well, thinking about a certain short, attractive asshole with germaphobia. It had been a week since the time they met at the movies, and Eren had found himself lingering on those memories more than once in very inappropriate places, like during lectures or mealtimes when he was supposed to be socializing with his friends. He hadn't told anyone, even Mikasa or Armin, about his meeting Levi, but they all had a general idea of what occupied his thoughts. He really loved all his friends, but they did have a nasty habit of making fun of him.

With a sigh, Eren turned off the water and dried himself fast, slipping into comofortable and warm sweatpants and hoodie. He warmed some leftovers from the previous day and slumped into one of the three wobbly chairs around his table. He wasn't really hungry, and admitting his mistake with school hadn't really worked to improve his mood. He barely tasted the food (mashed potatoes and fish sticks) as he looked around his empty apartment. He really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts all night. He went through his options: Mikasa and Armin were out of the question. They'd figure out the reason to his fould mood in a matter of minutes. He didn't really want to bother Reiner and Bertholdt, Sasha and Connie were a bit too up-beat for his current mood, so that left him with only one option. He took out his phone and started typing.

_Yo, horseface. Wanna get wasted?_

He didn't have to wait long until his phone beeped.

 **7:32PM** _Good evening to you too, asshole. 8 @ the regular joint?_

_See u there_

✿✿✿

The two of them arrived almost at the same time (five minutes late), and proceeded to get drinks from the counter. The barista, again that brown haired woman with glasses, took in their grim expressions and made sure to fill their glasses as full as possible. Eren gave her a small smile as thanks. They headed to an empty table and Eren threw his wallet and cellphone on the table. It was pleasantly noisy in the bar, enough so that they could speak in normal voices and still hear each other without having to worry about being heard by the other customers.

Turned out Jean had about as much to complain as Eren. He was barely scraping by in quite a few courses and passed his pop quizes by half a point each. He of course had Armin for a boyfriend, but his pride wouldn't allow him to ask for help. For once Eren could relate to him completely. He'd been friends with Armin since before elementary school, and had never asked for help in his studies despite knowing that Armin would comply instantly and wouldn't make a huge deal about it.

All in all complaning together with another loser was pleasant, Eren concluded after his third beer. He and Jean never felt the need to console each other, they just ranted away and sometimes didn't even stop to listen to the other person. They also had a gentlemen's agreement that they'd go get new rounds in turns.

When Eren went to get their fourth round, the barista looked at him speculatively and leaned her elbows on the counter.

"What's bugging you, hun? You and your buddy over there look like two old men comparing their pains and aches."

Eren wasn't really up for small talk, but decided that he didn't want to be rude to the woman who was obviously concerned for whatever reason people worried about perfect strangers.

"It's really nothing much. We just needed to vent after a lousy day."

"Love trouble?" the barista asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. Eren started and shook his head, feeling a slight warmth on his cheeks. The barista smiled like she knew something secret, but Eren couldn't fathom what. He somewhat recalled seeing the same barista on the evening of his birthday party and figured she might've overheard his loud-ass friends talking about him and his crush, but that still wasn't enough to explain the barista's expression.

"It's got nothing to do with love", Eren said as he took the drinks. "But thanks anyway for worrying, miss."

"You can call me Hange", the barista - Hange - said and smiled again cryptically. Eren wondered what was up with that as he headed back to the table where Jean was wating with a few choice words about the delay. Eren interjected, claiming he wasn't even gone for that long, and after Jean ran out of complaints, the two continued their ranting. Eren wasn't into it wholeheartedly anymore, though. He couldn't stop thinking about his brief conversation with Hange, mainly her reactions that seemed so out of place for someone he hadn't even talked to before.

As the evening went on and Eren got progressively drunk, he lost interest in complaning about his life completely. The Karaoke had started in one corner of the bar and some regulars had somehow coaxed him into singing a cheesy love song (Eren was actually a decent singer, to many people's surprise). By midnight a very drunken Jean had taken the microphone and was singing what sounded remotely like My Heart Will Go On while half the bar was cheering and the other half covering their ears. Eren decided he’d had enough, and with wobbly feet he finally managed to find the bar door. It took a few tries to open it because his hands were shaking and because his drunken brain didn’t register the “Pull” sign at first, but when he finally realized that pushing wasn’t going to do the trick, he got the door open and was relieved to feel the cool breeze on his face. He exited the bar and walked out into the darkening night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo look who's back! I swear I'll get the next one out sooner, it's actually the chapter I've been waiting for since I started this thing, I promise it'll be up by next month. If not you can come bitch to me about it on my tumblr (fancy-mixing-spoon)  
> Also thank you so much for sticking with me even though I'm such a lazy ass writer and can't even produce half-decent chapters in six months. Also sorry for no Levi in this, I promise you'll see him again in the next one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which booze ex machina has done its magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops that took longer than expected. Sorry q w q thanks for sticking with me!

The bed was soft. Too soft. Eren frowned in his sleep. His bed wasn’t supposed to be this soft, was it? He took a deep breath, trying to clear his head. He had a throbbing headache. He tried to open his eyes but shut them again because the morning light shining through the windows amplified the whiteness of the sheets making his eyes hurt. After another deep breath he realised something else. The smell was off. The sheets smelled like they’d just come out of the wash, and the usual mix of sweat and instant noodles that floated around in his apartment was missing.

He opened his eyes again, more carefully this time. The room was most definitely not his. It was plain with white walls, one huge window, a wooden floor. The only furniture in it was the king sized bed he was sleeping on and a dark wooden night stand on the right side of it. Long white curtains were drawn but they were too thin to actually block out any light. He could hear the sounds of cars passing by, but they were muffled so he figured it must be an apartment building and he was on one of the upper floors.

He tried to get out of bed and realized for the first time that he didn’t have any clothes on. Well, he still had his boxers but everything else was missing. The panic was finally starting to set in. He frantically tried to remember what he’d been doing the night before. He remembered feeling like shit and asking Jean to go drinking with him. He remembered having a few drinks and starting to feel better, but then everything became fuzzy. Had he left the bar of his own accord? He racked his brain and got to a hazy memory of trying to push the door open though it said “Pull”. Ok, so if he had managed to open the door, he should at least have left willingly.

Now he only needed to figure out where he was. He rose up, wrapped in the blanket, and walked to the sliding door that was facing the bed from the other side of the room. He stopped with his hand on the doorframe and strained his ears. The only sound coming from the room beyond was an occasional rustle of paper, a certain sign that at least one other person was in the apartment. 

He took a deep breath and opened the door a fraction so he could take a peek at the room beyond. What he saw was more of the plain whiteness that seemed to be the decorative theme of the bedroom. The walls were white, the curtains were white, even the oval shaped lampshade that hung from the white ceiling was white. The was a black leather sofa facing a light wooden TV stand with a large flat screen TV on it, so Eren figured he was looking at the living room. The large clock on the wall told him it was just past noon. He opened the door and entered warily.

“I see you’re finally up."

Eren started and scanned the room. On his right side there was a small wooden kitchen counter with bar stools on the living room side, and on one of those stools sat...

“Wait, L-levi?"

The other man was already dressed in a white collared shirt and black pants with the newspaper open on the counter and a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. He was scanning Eren with an expression that bordered between annoyance and amusement. Eren suddenly became very conscious of the fact that he was indeed wearing nothing but boxers and a blanket.

“Is it safe to assume you’re not feeling suicidal anymore?"

“I.. wait _WHAT_?” For a second Eren doubted his ears. He tried to rack his memory but it stubbornly refused to let him past that door at the bar.

Levi lazily flipped the pages of the newspaper. “I’ll take that as a yes. How much do you remember?"

“I, uh… up to the point where I was leaving the bar… Where are my clothes?” He winced at the way his voice rose in pitch towards the end of the sentence.

“In the bathroom. They should be dry by now.” Levi pointed towards a hallway that seemed to be beyond the kitchenette. 

Eren’s heart sank. He could imagine only one scenario in which there would be a need to wash his clothes. He felt his face heat up as he hastily stuttered an apology and hurried to the bathroom.

He found his clothes neatly hung on the shower rack, and indeed dry. They smelled of the same laundry detergent as the sheets. After carefully folding the blanket on the toilet seat (he had a feeling Levi would flay him alive if he dumped it on the floor), he pulled on his pants and T-shirt and wrapped the sleeves of his hoodie around his waist. He was still wondering about Levi’s comment regarding him being suicidal, so it took a while for him to realise something crucial was missing.

“Levi?” he yelled, “did I have my wallet and cell with me last night?"

“No.” Eren’s heart sank. “Also who the fuck keeps their keys in their wallet?"

Eren’s blushed. “How do you know about that?"

There was an exasperated sigh from the living room. “Well, genius, when I picked you up from the street last night I asked where your keys were and you told me. Then you proceeded on to tell me about some plush toy of yours you missed oh so terribly."

Eren decided to ignore the last comment in favour of panicking about the loss of all his valuables.

“Did I happen to tell you where the wallet is?” he asked anxiously as he exited the bathroom.

Levi looked at him from the counter and shook his head. “But from the way you looked when I picked you up, I’m pretty sure you weren’t mugged or anything, so you most probably just left them at the bar. If you’re lucky, your friend or the barista will have picked them up."

Eren nodded despite not being reassured by the “pretty sure”, “probably” and “if you’re lucky”. He doubled back to the bathroom to grab the blanket he’d forgotten there and took it back to the bedroom.

“Wait, what was that about me being suicidal?” he suddenly remembered.

“Don’t worry about it, seems like it was a passing aspiration."

Eren peeked out of the door to give Levi a disapproving look and a disgruntled gruff. Levi was standing up beside the counter and offering him a steaming cup of coffee.

“Drink up. You must have a hell of a hangover."

Ironically, up until then the hangover had been the least of Eren’s problems and he’d managed to completely forget about the headache, but now that Levi had brought it up, it was back and twice as bad. He took the cup with a grunt that was supposed to be a thank you and slumped onto a bar stool. Levi raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, and instead sat back on his own stool and continued reading the newspaper. For a while the only sounds in the room where the occasional rustle of paper and Eren gulping down his coffee.

As he began to relax, Eren started to scan the room more attentively. The kitchenette was small, but clean. There was a shelf with a vast array of spices on it right above the stove, so Eren figured Levi liked to cook. The refrigerator was a metallic colour and there were no magnets on it. Instead notes and prints were pinned on a crock board that hung on the wall above the kitchen counter. 

The living room side was impeccably clean. There was no sign of dust on anywhere, and nothing excess on the floor. Levi didn’t seem to be one to have ornaments scattered around, what few Eren saw were neatly placed on the bookshelves he hadn’t noticed before. Even those bookshelves had glass doors on them to minimise the dust. There was a blu-ray player and some other gadget in the TV stand and a few remotes along with a magazine on the coffee table. The couch had a brown quilt on it but no cushions as far as Eren could see. Tucked in the corner was a music stand with sheets on it and a thick black rectangle case.

“Violin?” Eren asked and pointed to the case. Levi nodded without raising his eyes from the paper.

“How long have you played?”

“Started when I was six."

“Could you play something for me?"

Levi stopped midway of turning the page and stared at Eren, who in turn gazed back expectantly. Finally Levi sighed and got up. He walked over to the corner, took the violin case and gently placed it on the coffee table. Eren walked over as Levi opened the latches and lifted the lid. Inside was an instrument made of shining dark wood. Eren didn’t know much about violins but Levi’s looked exquisite. 

With routine precision Levi took out the bow and screwed it tighter. Then he flipped open a small compartment on one end of the case and took out a shiny round… stone or something, and a rectangular device with a digital screen on it. He then proceeded to rub the stone on the hair of the bow.

“Rosin”, Levi explained. “It creates more friction between the bow and the strings and increases the sound quality.” Eren nodded attentively.

Levi then turned on the small device and started fingering the strings. A small light on the device flashed between red and green as Levi started tuning his instrument. Eren watched with fascination as Levi fiddled with the tuning pegs making minute changes to their rotation sometimes with his eyes intently on the tuner, sometimes closed.

When he was happy with the sound, he lifted the instrument to his shoulder and rested his chin on the chin rest. His face relaxed as his posture changed to an almost regal grace. He lifted the bow to the strings and started playing a minor tune, that Eren knew much to his own surprise. It was an old German song he’d loved to sing when he was small.

Mesmerised by the grace with which Levi’s fingers moved on the strings, Eren subconsciously started humming the lyrics to the melody. Levi shot him a surprised look from the corner of his eyes but his fingers never faltered. Encouraged by that, Eren lifted his voice as Levi’s playing rose to a crescendo and they reached the third verse that was by far Eren’s favourite.

_"Hoffentlich können wir es irgendwann verstehen  
Wir gehen zur anderen Seite des Horizontes"_

In Eren’s eyes Levi looked like he was glowing as he matched his music to Eren’s vocals with unbelievable precision. His whole body moved in time with the rhythm and gave a life to the song making it seem like it was the first time Eren had truly heard it.

_"Ist das der Engel, der vom dämmernden Himmel hinunter flog?”_

Levi would’ve definitely passed for an angel, there was no doubt in Eren’s mind about that.

_"Ist das der Teufel, der aus der Felsenspalte heraus kroch?"_

Maybe Eren was the devil who sought to snatch Levi from Heaven and keep him for himself.

_"Tränen, Ärger, Mitleid, Grausamkeit.”_

They locked eyes.

_"Frieden, Chaos, Glaube, Verrat.”_

They were getting closer. Well, Eren was gradually moving towards Levi. It was like those steel-grey eyes had a gravity to them that wouldn’t let Eren out of his grasp. The vocals ended and Eren stopped giving Levi just enough room to manoeuvre the final notes bringing the melody to an end with an echoing finality.

Levi looked like he came out of a trance as he lowered his violin. He looked back up to Eren and seemed visibly surprised to find him that close despite the fact that they’d held each others’ gaze all the while Eren drew closer. Eren smiled shyly.

“You play really well. Heck, that’s the understatement of the year."

“Yeah well, your singing isn’t half bad either.” Was it just Eren’s imagination or was Levi’s voice shaking slightly?

“ _Vogel im Käfig._ How’d you come by that?"

“It was a request from one of the brats I teach."

Eren’s face lit up. “So _that’s_ what you do for a living!"

Levi brushed that off and lowered his voice slightly. “How’d you know the lyrics anyway? And the pronunciation for that matter."

“Dad’s German”, Eren replied equally quietly and moved his gaze to the wide window. “He taught me the lyrics and mom played the piano."

Levi inched a bit closer with a look of understanding. “Bad fallout?"

They were so close that if Eren reached out he could wrap Levi in his arms and hell, he wanted nothing more than to do that. Instead he just laughed humourlessly and looked back to Levi, who was so close….

“You could say that,” he whispered. The bitter memories faded and he couldn’t help but smile fondly at the smaller man staring up to him. He thought he saw a slight blush creep up on Levi’s cheeks, but it could have been a trick of the light. The light filtering through the curtains amplified the contrast of Levi’s black hair and light skin making him look like a muscular porcelain doll. The moment was perfect, Eren was caught up in it with no hope to escape, and he lowered his head and Levi was definitely responding...

And then the doorbell rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That happened. SORRY DON'T HATE ME! (yet)
> 
> On another note, I've talked with a native German and apparently there are some mistakes in the official lyrics of Vogel im Käfig but for the convenience of the plot we're ignoring those.
> 
> Sorry if there are inconsistensies, any complaints can be filed to fancy-mixing-spoon on tumblr. Also nice anons are always appreciated.


End file.
